(Skull with Cigarette by Vincent Van Gough)
Let's start with the understanding that even the framing of this title is disingenuous and lacks nuance. What is good art? Or, for that matter, a bad person? Are we defined by our worst actions? Can people change?
It all has to do with the way we relate to the person being defined. From the vantage point of someone who has been harmed by another's “bad behavior,” it's easy to see how one might label their perpetrator and similar people as bad. Juxtapose that to a loved one who knows the “bad person” outside of the context of their actions. I assume their view of the bad actor will be more nuanced and leave room for that person to be more than their actions.
What happens when we consume someone's bad actions from the sidelines? Do we empathize with the victim and label their victimizer a bad person? Do we identify as a person who loves or likes the victimizer and leave room for them to be more?
I think this choice is an individual one. However, just because a choice belongs to an individual doesn't mean it won't come with social consequences. There are many factors at play when deciding how to relate to an artist who has acted badly in a public way:
- personal trauma,
- political stances,
- parasocial relationships.
If you decide to publicly consume and support art produced by a “bad person,” many of the same factors that came into play when people defined their view of the artist will also factor into how they view you. This is not a value statement of whether or not that should be the case. It is instead an observational statement.
Everyone has trauma, and we use our experiences to evaluate whether the people in our lives are safe. Those who have experienced trauma related to the harm an artist inflicted on their victim(s) often feel obligated to use people's public opinions of bad actors as a factor in judging whether someone is a safe person in their lives.
For example, if you post your Hogwarts house in your social media bio, a trans person or trans ally may take that public support of Harry Potter and by extension, JK Rowling, as a statement of support for her transphobic views and behaviors. Do they know you, your views, and your personhood based on a silly comment about something you related to as a child? No, they don't have a full picture of you as a person. However, they might not have the luxury to give you the benefit of the doubt when there is rampant violence and hostility aimed at trans people. They may feel they have to read the signs of how you present publicly to determine whether you would be a safe person.
Likewise, if you continue to review Neil Giaman’s works in light of the many accusations of sexual assault, survivors of sexual assault might reconsider their relationships with you.
Just because you can compartmentalize a person’s art from their actions doesn’t mean everyone can. Or wants to.
As our online presence grows, the rate at which we form parasocial relationships with public figures has deepened. Celebrities share their diets, their romantic lives, and embarrassing stories of who they were as a child, and we believe we know them. We grow attached because their art has meant so much to us, and we feel an emotional resonance with them as an artist.
Due to our increasingly parasocial relationships with public figures, many of us struggle when we learn about their bad behavior. Their actions don't comport with the people we built up in our heads. So when someone speaks negatively about them, we respond as if someone is attacking a friend or family member rather than criticizing a stranger. This may lead to us giving an abuser more credit while we discredit their victims.
(Image credit Joss Whedon Twitter)
So what does this all mean? Does this mean I am telling everyone to stop reading Neil Gaiman, listening to Michael Jackson, and watching Joss Whedon movies?
Not necessarily. I believe that the consumption of art is a nuanced decision. We should consume art created by people we disagree with. I also think we should take into account whether the bad actor is financially benefiting from our consumption and if supporting them might help them continue their bad behavior.
In the case of J.K. Rowling, she benefits financially with every new Harry Potter project, and uses her money to support anti-trans groups and legislation. In fact, she has publicly announced her intensions to use her profits from the new HBO series to create an anti-trans advocacy organization. As opposed to Michael Jackson, who is no longer alive and can no longer financially benefit or cause harm.
Additionally, we have to consider private vs. public consumption. In what venue are we consuming art, and will there be people that can be negatively affected by our consumption in those spaces? In general, we need to think about our public consumption as an action and consider the consequences of it.
There is a difference between rewatching Annie Hall in the privacy of your home and doing a deep-dive YouTube review on the “brilliance” of Woody Allen’s script. We throw up signs every day of who we are, whether it is the cover of the book we have on the train or the post we make about how much we enjoyed a controversial video game. Just as we are free to choose the art we consume, others are able to make judgments about what that might mean about who we are.
Fair or not, it's true.
It can hurt when someone we felt a kinship with is accused of doing something terrible and the art we loved is subjected to mass critique. However, in most cases, we do not know the accused. So I personally try to think about the choices I make in relation to their art, how I display my choices to the world, the messages I am sending, and negotiate if I am comfortable with the consequences of my choices.
Some like to reframe all of these discussions as cancel culture. However, I would argue people have been making decisions about what art to consume and how to consume it since the beginning of art. The factors at play are different. The public nature of our consumption is different. But there have always been reasons why people make choices about art and peer pressure surrounding those choices.
I would argue the framing of things as cancel culture has more to do with who is being critiqued rather than the act of critiquing. Oscar Wilde was jailed for his sexuality, and I have no doubt that became a factor in how or if people read his works. Neil Gaiman has been accused of horrific sexual abuse and violence. However, he is a rich, straight, white man, and we have only recently begun to hold those with the most power accountable in public ways. The act of turning public critique on artists with more power in society is newer.
At the end of the day, I don't think anyone should dictate how others consume art. However, I do think that our choices, especially those we make in public, have consequences.
I read a quote, and I wish I could credit it but have been unable to find it again, that helped me think about my personal approach to art I have loved created by artists who have done great harm. "Don’t put your nostalgia for a piece of art over the reality of other people’s futures."
OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFORMATION: James is a nerd with a head full of stories and limited time to put them on the page. He grew up in Grand Rapids, MI, spending an excessive amount of time at a local community theater where he developed his affinity for storytelling. This affinity grew into a deep admiration for language and spoken word poetry while studying mathematics and education at the University of Michigan. He firmly believes that art—even silly books about magic, or maybe especially silly books about magic—has the ability to tell stories that sink beneath the surface.
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Buy A Forbidden Alchemy
FORMAT/INFO: A Forbidden Alchemy will be published on July 1st, 2025 by Saga Press. It is 480 pages long and available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: One simple test has the chance to change your life forever. In a matter of seconds, you discover if you are a magical Artisan or a non-magical Crafter. Nina and Patrick are just children when they undergo their test - and discover a secret that changes their lives forever. Over a decade later, the two are reunited as the country is embroiled in revolution. Nina is an Artisan trying to hide from both sides of the war, while Patrick is a leader of the Crafter revolution. After all these years, will their bond stand the strain of conflicting loyalties? Or will the sides of the war keep them apart?
A Forbidden Alchemy is a slow-burn fantasy romance that swept me off my feet. It takes its time to build up the dynamic between the two characters, first introducing you to them as children, when a formative event shaped their lives forever. When Nina and Patrick are reunited, you can feel the weight of history each carries. They’ve both done things to survive that they aren’t proud of. They're each living with the consequences of their choices that fateful day as children, and it has shaped them in very different ways.
It's the differences that keep the romance a slow dance between Nina and Patrick. Although they sparked a bond as children, they haven't seen each other in over a decade. Can they trust each other? Where do their respective loyalties lie? Would one of them put the other above their ties to any family or faction? While they figure out their hierarchy of trust and priorities, Nina and Patrick keep each other at arm's length. Watching those walls slowly crumble is what makes the eventual romance (and brief spice) worth it.
Supporting this romance is the moody and desolate world this story is set in. The bulk of the book takes place in an area that resembles a rural England mining town in the early twentieth century. It's the kind of town where the majority of men are involved in the dangerous work of mining, where people live in constant fear of hearing of a devastating tunnel collapse. The landscape is harsh and unforgiving, and full of windswept moors, the perfect backdrop to a romance fraught with tension.
While A Forbidden Alchemy is a fantasy story, it's a fairly low-magic one, largely due to the fact that it is primarily set in a non-magical Crafter town. The magical Artisans exhibit an affinity for manipulating some sort of element, metal, or other singular material. Nina, for instance, is an earth charmer (essentially an earth bender), while rapid communication throughout the country is facilitated by those who have an affinity for ink and can manipulate it across great distances. Their abilities are used infrequently enough that I sometimes found myself forgetting there was magic in this world, even though the clash between Artisans and Crafters drives the heart of the story.
But at the end of the day, the magic doesn't matter as much because the fight between Artisan and Crafter is really one of class warfare. The Crafters do the back-breaking work that keeps the nation functional, while the Artisans live in luxury, making occasionally useful things, but often things that are just pretty. It's the classic recipe for an uprising.
At the center of it all is Patrick, the heart of a workers' uprising. He's the cold leader of the town who will make the impossible choices so that life is better for the families that come after. He's brutal when he has to be and brooding most of the rest of the time, and yes, it's absolutely catnip for me.
Nina, on the other hand, is out for herself. Not in an actively malicious way, but in that passivity of "I don't want to rock the boat if it's going to mean bad things for me." To be fair, the more we see of her backstory as the narrative unfolds, the more we see how much she has lived in constant fear the last several years, despite being an Artisan. Gaining the confidence to work on behalf of others is as much about facing her own fears as it is about growing a conscience.
My only real flaw was the fact that I ended up having to yell at certain characters for naivete towards the end of the book. While I can see the plot reasons certain choices were made, I found myself banging my head against the wall as I foresaw the inevitable fallout from those decisions.
CONCLUSION: That said, A Forbidden Alchemy may be my first Stacey McEwan but it certainly won't be my last. I found myself completely hooked by the writing and was desperate to pick it up at every opportunity. Truly, my biggest gripe with the book? That it had THAT ENDING and now I have to wait many, many months to see where things pick up in the sequel. I'm ready for the next installment of inevitable drama and angst to be injected into my veins NOW.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: One simple test has the chance to change your life forever. In a matter of seconds, you discover if you are a magical Artisan or a non-magical Crafter. Nina and Patrick are just children when they undergo their test - and discover a secret that changes their lives forever. Over a decade later, the two are reunited as the country is embroiled in revolution. Nina is an Artisan trying to hide from both sides of the war, while Patrick is a leader of the Crafter revolution. After all these years, will their bond stand the strain of conflicting loyalties? Or will the sides of the war keep them apart?
A Forbidden Alchemy is a slow-burn fantasy romance that swept me off my feet. It takes its time to build up the dynamic between the two characters, first introducing you to them as children, when a formative event shaped their lives forever. When Nina and Patrick are reunited, you can feel the weight of history each carries. They’ve both done things to survive that they aren’t proud of. They're each living with the consequences of their choices that fateful day as children, and it has shaped them in very different ways.
It's the differences that keep the romance a slow dance between Nina and Patrick. Although they sparked a bond as children, they haven't seen each other in over a decade. Can they trust each other? Where do their respective loyalties lie? Would one of them put the other above their ties to any family or faction? While they figure out their hierarchy of trust and priorities, Nina and Patrick keep each other at arm's length. Watching those walls slowly crumble is what makes the eventual romance (and brief spice) worth it.
Supporting this romance is the moody and desolate world this story is set in. The bulk of the book takes place in an area that resembles a rural England mining town in the early twentieth century. It's the kind of town where the majority of men are involved in the dangerous work of mining, where people live in constant fear of hearing of a devastating tunnel collapse. The landscape is harsh and unforgiving, and full of windswept moors, the perfect backdrop to a romance fraught with tension.
While A Forbidden Alchemy is a fantasy story, it's a fairly low-magic one, largely due to the fact that it is primarily set in a non-magical Crafter town. The magical Artisans exhibit an affinity for manipulating some sort of element, metal, or other singular material. Nina, for instance, is an earth charmer (essentially an earth bender), while rapid communication throughout the country is facilitated by those who have an affinity for ink and can manipulate it across great distances. Their abilities are used infrequently enough that I sometimes found myself forgetting there was magic in this world, even though the clash between Artisans and Crafters drives the heart of the story.
But at the end of the day, the magic doesn't matter as much because the fight between Artisan and Crafter is really one of class warfare. The Crafters do the back-breaking work that keeps the nation functional, while the Artisans live in luxury, making occasionally useful things, but often things that are just pretty. It's the classic recipe for an uprising.
At the center of it all is Patrick, the heart of a workers' uprising. He's the cold leader of the town who will make the impossible choices so that life is better for the families that come after. He's brutal when he has to be and brooding most of the rest of the time, and yes, it's absolutely catnip for me.
Nina, on the other hand, is out for herself. Not in an actively malicious way, but in that passivity of "I don't want to rock the boat if it's going to mean bad things for me." To be fair, the more we see of her backstory as the narrative unfolds, the more we see how much she has lived in constant fear the last several years, despite being an Artisan. Gaining the confidence to work on behalf of others is as much about facing her own fears as it is about growing a conscience.
My only real flaw was the fact that I ended up having to yell at certain characters for naivete towards the end of the book. While I can see the plot reasons certain choices were made, I found myself banging my head against the wall as I foresaw the inevitable fallout from those decisions.
CONCLUSION: That said, A Forbidden Alchemy may be my first Stacey McEwan but it certainly won't be my last. I found myself completely hooked by the writing and was desperate to pick it up at every opportunity. Truly, my biggest gripe with the book? That it had THAT ENDING and now I have to wait many, many months to see where things pick up in the sequel. I'm ready for the next installment of inevitable drama and angst to be injected into my veins NOW.
Official Author Website
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Price Of Power
Read Fantasy Book Critic interview with Michael Michel
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Price Of Power
Read Fantasy Book Critic interview with Michael Michel
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Michael Michel lives in Oregon with his wife and their “mini-me” children. When he isn’t obsessively writing, he can be found exercising, exploring nature, enjoying comedy, or playing Warhammer. His favorite shows are Dark, The Wire, and Scavenger’s Reign—clearly, he loves his heart to be abused.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Treachery looms across the land.
The Scarborn have deposed the once-great Ironlight family. With scores to settle, the lowborn shake rust from their knives and trade allegiances for a promise of blood while the highborn rally their armies.
Namarr’s future rests on a blade’s edge, and the heroes who might save it can no longer hide. Meanwhile, across the sea, Scothea has already succumbed to revolution.
Fanatics led by the Arrow of Light wrest the throne from an ancient line of kings. Now, their sights are set on a Third Crusade against Namarr. For most, it will be their last.
The pieces are set. The gameboard is chosen. For those unwilling to play, there’s only one peaceful place left…
The inside of a grave.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: There’s a standout scene early in this story when a character attends a funeral and sings a haunting lament over the deceased. Although we never met the departed, the scene brought me near to tears. Powerful, gut-wrenching emotions were laid bare, breathing depth and weight into this grim saga of an empire teetering on the edge of collapse.
This is but one of many examples throughout Michael Michel’s A Graveyard for Heroes that evokes empathy and compassion with characters of varying moral quality. One of the new POVs is a military general from the invading Scothean empire, and while he has committed atrocities under the rule of his king, Michel crafts him in a way where we can fully grasp his conflicts and motivations. Michel shapes his characters with a subtle, deft touch, building lifelike characters and conversations through realistic dialogue, emotion-fueled actions, and questionable decisions.
A Graveyard for Heroes further elevates the series in every way. Similar to book one, The Price of Power, the story uses rich detail, strong character and plot development, and shocking scenes of violence and darkness to tell a slow-burn tale of revolution, responsibility, and vengeance. I found the tale to be increasingly unpredictable, which was an exciting and welcome feeling.
While there is magic to the world, it is limited in its usage, and this helped create a sense of awe when unleashed. This decision pairs well with the methodical nature of the storytelling, but I must stress that at no point did I ever feel the book’s pacing had slowed. Every chapter pushed the plot further, and the characters into more interesting and tighter predicaments.
I must note two additional elements that caught me off-guard: first, the usage of music led to some of the story’s most powerful scenes, as Michel’s descriptive prose made me feel like I was attending and listening to these performances live. Second, there were some thoughtful philosophical ideas introduced that helped convince people of a stubborn mindset to quickly change their worldviews. Well-written speeches argued for new approaches to thinking and doing, and I was nodding my head along with the characters in the audience. It speaks volumes to Michel’s ability to approach different mediums and evoke strong responses through his storytelling.
A Graveyard for Heroes succeeds in delivering a compelling, entertaining, and satisfying sequel to The Price of Power. It further raises the stakes while getting the reader to care deeply about the fates of its characters and the direction of where this is all headed.
CONCLUSION: This is a promising and exciting series from a talented and careful author, and I can easily recommend it to fans of dark, thoughtfully crafted, character-driven sagas. I look forward to re-reading both entries before book three arrives in January 2026. Highly recommended.
Official Author Website
For world-building, I tend to start with a bit of real history, and then bounce it off a character to see what works. From there, both evolve and influence each other until they become something unique.
Q] Perspective plays an important role in this story, though in book one the focus was mostly on POVs from the Namarr empire. Will readers get a chance to engage with POV’s from the opposing Scothean empire later in the series? What led to your decision to only focus on one side early on?
MM: Short answer: Yes. Readers will be introduced to Ikarai Valka, a Scothean general in book two.
And book two and three will take us to a number of new locations.
As to my decision to stay grounded in book one, that came down to a matter of strategy. I had to look at what would be best for readers. Originally, I had all nine characters’ POVs in book one. That…didn’t work.
Dreams of Dust and Steel is an intricate story set in a vast world. I didn’t want to overwhelm people, so I had three questions at the top of each chapter as I wrote book one. Something like this:
1 ) What’s the emotional arc?
2 ) What’s the action in this section?
3 ) What is the world-building/plot introduced?
Every chapter had to have some semblance of all three, or it needed to be cut. This allowed me to make sure there’s always a sense of progress for readers, even when the story slowed down. It also allowed me to ensure characters had continuity in their development, some manner of action occurring regularly–be it dialogue, fighting, etc–and it allowed me to “drip” the world-building to readers in a digestible way.
I want to stay focused on character journeys in this series, while slowly peeling back the world as we go. Novelty is one thing folk love when they read, so this is my way of manufacturing a sense of “newness/freshness” throughout the series.
That keeps the pages turning.
Q] You’re writing two series simultaneously: Dreams of Dust and Steel, as well as a series of novellas set years before the events in DoDaS. Was this always the plan, or had you considered integrating both stories into one series?
MM: This wasn’t a plan until I wrote War Song as a reward to backers in my first Kickstarter. Then, I caught the bug for something dark but slightly more heroic than TPoP.
I’d just read Red Rising as well, and enjoyed Darrow’s story. The way he constantly strategized the next best step, or accomplished incredible feats, alone or with allies, inspired me to write a whole prequel for this legendary character, Danath Ironlight. I realized he shares quite a few qualities with the Reaper and had a similar backstory. In a way, the novella series is an homage to both Red Rising and George Washington.
Q] Comparisons to George RR Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” seem to get tossed around frequently these days, but in this case it feels an apt comparison, with a list of POVs and supporting characters thats ever growing. Is there concern that the story might get away from you, or do you have the full saga planned out in advance?
MM: The full saga is planned out. I know how it ends for all the characters and have book 4 and 5 roughly outlined. Book 3 is done and in revisions.
The advantage GoT has over my series is that all the characters start together. It’s easier to ground into the world, see how characters relate, etc., early on. Easier to lead them into danger and cool scenarios, too, because there’s no worry about bringing them immediately back together.
BUT, all those characters who fan outward from the localized starting point, THEN have to meander back. From a strategic perspective, this can make it hard to wrangle in and may cause a lot of “bloat” through the middle of a story as we have to invent new shit to lead characters toward a conclusion that seems pointless.
Now, the advantage I have over GoT is that all my characters have been moving toward one another from the start. So while I might lose readers early on who dislike the lack of intersection between characters, my way of always narrowing toward something has made each successive book move faster in the writing process, and readers get to be excited as they see their favorite POVS cross paths, or mysteries click into place.
My “bloat” is more toward the front end, but I’d call it necessary character building. At least, no meandering middle bit. Readers who like the series from book one should be in for a treat.
Q] If you have any free time, how do you spend it? Can you recommend any books, games, shows, that have recently caught your interest?
MM: You’re right to ask it the way you did, haha. Not a ton of free time since I have two kids and hustle constantly atm. Fingers are crossed there’s more respite on the horizon, though.
If I had more free time, I’d play a ton of tabletop and board games and have a regular exercise schedule (yoga, martial arts, weightlifting). I’d also do a lot more hiking and paddleboarding. I truly enjoy nature, comedy, TV/movies. Video games are cool, but not my main thing. I love to dance, too.
The top three shows I strongly recommend: Dark, The Wire, Scavenger’s Reign.
Favorite games in recent memory: Ghost of Tsushima and Hogwarts Legacy.
Read Fantasy
Book Critic’s review of The Price Of Power
Q] Tell
us about your early experience in reading and writing fantasy! What were some
of your favorite authors and series that influenced the Dreams of Dust and
Steel? Did you always write fantasy or have you explored different genres?
MM: Well you see, I started out writing porn scripts in my twenties--err--I mean, TOLKIEN!
Okay, serious answer. When I was seven, my older brother and I bought a white dwarf magazine and thought it was the coolest thing we’d ever seen, so I got heavily into Warhammer, which was a massive influence. Also, my dad used to read fantasy, and on long car rides, we listened to audiobooks, the coolest one being a David Eddings book–that’s what kicked off my reading journey.
My peak reader experiences have been A Song of Ice and Fire and the Riftwar Saga. The latter made me want to dream up worlds, and the former inspired me to be an author. Special shout-out to the X-Men cartoon as well. Growing up in the 90s, I recorded every episode on VHS. The psychosocial relationship between characters and their powers is brilliant.
I wrote a lot of Sci-Fi when I was a more active member of the Wordos critique group. I had some publications and a few honorable mentions in Writers of the Future druing that stretch, but fantasy has always been my passion.
I’ve also done some non-fiction spirituality writing. You might catch that vibe in book two and beyond when the Arrow of Light shows up.
Q] Your books tell the tale of two empires struggling for dominance and control, with both sides committing horrid atrocities over the span of decades. Most of the POVs we engage with in book one are on the side of Namarr, the current ruling class, though I found it difficult to cheer their victory due to their war crimes. Are there any real-world wars or invasions that you had in mind while developing these empires?
MM: I pull a ton from history. I love it. The events leading up to the current timeline of The Price of Power were heavily influenced by the American Revolutionary War. Danath is a Washington-esque character, though instead of being part of the upper-crust, he starts as a slave. Kurgs are a mix of samurai and Mesoamerican cultures–I was obsessed with the Mayans for a while. Scothea is a blend of elements taken from Russia and Japan.
MM: Well you see, I started out writing porn scripts in my twenties--err--I mean, TOLKIEN!
Okay, serious answer. When I was seven, my older brother and I bought a white dwarf magazine and thought it was the coolest thing we’d ever seen, so I got heavily into Warhammer, which was a massive influence. Also, my dad used to read fantasy, and on long car rides, we listened to audiobooks, the coolest one being a David Eddings book–that’s what kicked off my reading journey.
My peak reader experiences have been A Song of Ice and Fire and the Riftwar Saga. The latter made me want to dream up worlds, and the former inspired me to be an author. Special shout-out to the X-Men cartoon as well. Growing up in the 90s, I recorded every episode on VHS. The psychosocial relationship between characters and their powers is brilliant.
I wrote a lot of Sci-Fi when I was a more active member of the Wordos critique group. I had some publications and a few honorable mentions in Writers of the Future druing that stretch, but fantasy has always been my passion.
I’ve also done some non-fiction spirituality writing. You might catch that vibe in book two and beyond when the Arrow of Light shows up.
Q] Your books tell the tale of two empires struggling for dominance and control, with both sides committing horrid atrocities over the span of decades. Most of the POVs we engage with in book one are on the side of Namarr, the current ruling class, though I found it difficult to cheer their victory due to their war crimes. Are there any real-world wars or invasions that you had in mind while developing these empires?
MM: I pull a ton from history. I love it. The events leading up to the current timeline of The Price of Power were heavily influenced by the American Revolutionary War. Danath is a Washington-esque character, though instead of being part of the upper-crust, he starts as a slave. Kurgs are a mix of samurai and Mesoamerican cultures–I was obsessed with the Mayans for a while. Scothea is a blend of elements taken from Russia and Japan.
For world-building, I tend to start with a bit of real history, and then bounce it off a character to see what works. From there, both evolve and influence each other until they become something unique.
Q] Perspective plays an important role in this story, though in book one the focus was mostly on POVs from the Namarr empire. Will readers get a chance to engage with POV’s from the opposing Scothean empire later in the series? What led to your decision to only focus on one side early on?
MM: Short answer: Yes. Readers will be introduced to Ikarai Valka, a Scothean general in book two.
And book two and three will take us to a number of new locations.
As to my decision to stay grounded in book one, that came down to a matter of strategy. I had to look at what would be best for readers. Originally, I had all nine characters’ POVs in book one. That…didn’t work.
Dreams of Dust and Steel is an intricate story set in a vast world. I didn’t want to overwhelm people, so I had three questions at the top of each chapter as I wrote book one. Something like this:
1 ) What’s the emotional arc?
2 ) What’s the action in this section?
3 ) What is the world-building/plot introduced?
Every chapter had to have some semblance of all three, or it needed to be cut. This allowed me to make sure there’s always a sense of progress for readers, even when the story slowed down. It also allowed me to ensure characters had continuity in their development, some manner of action occurring regularly–be it dialogue, fighting, etc–and it allowed me to “drip” the world-building to readers in a digestible way.
I want to stay focused on character journeys in this series, while slowly peeling back the world as we go. Novelty is one thing folk love when they read, so this is my way of manufacturing a sense of “newness/freshness” throughout the series.
That keeps the pages turning.
Q] You’re writing two series simultaneously: Dreams of Dust and Steel, as well as a series of novellas set years before the events in DoDaS. Was this always the plan, or had you considered integrating both stories into one series?
MM: This wasn’t a plan until I wrote War Song as a reward to backers in my first Kickstarter. Then, I caught the bug for something dark but slightly more heroic than TPoP.
I’d just read Red Rising as well, and enjoyed Darrow’s story. The way he constantly strategized the next best step, or accomplished incredible feats, alone or with allies, inspired me to write a whole prequel for this legendary character, Danath Ironlight. I realized he shares quite a few qualities with the Reaper and had a similar backstory. In a way, the novella series is an homage to both Red Rising and George Washington.
Q] Comparisons to George RR Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” seem to get tossed around frequently these days, but in this case it feels an apt comparison, with a list of POVs and supporting characters thats ever growing. Is there concern that the story might get away from you, or do you have the full saga planned out in advance?
MM: The full saga is planned out. I know how it ends for all the characters and have book 4 and 5 roughly outlined. Book 3 is done and in revisions.
The advantage GoT has over my series is that all the characters start together. It’s easier to ground into the world, see how characters relate, etc., early on. Easier to lead them into danger and cool scenarios, too, because there’s no worry about bringing them immediately back together.
BUT, all those characters who fan outward from the localized starting point, THEN have to meander back. From a strategic perspective, this can make it hard to wrangle in and may cause a lot of “bloat” through the middle of a story as we have to invent new shit to lead characters toward a conclusion that seems pointless.
Now, the advantage I have over GoT is that all my characters have been moving toward one another from the start. So while I might lose readers early on who dislike the lack of intersection between characters, my way of always narrowing toward something has made each successive book move faster in the writing process, and readers get to be excited as they see their favorite POVS cross paths, or mysteries click into place.
My “bloat” is more toward the front end, but I’d call it necessary character building. At least, no meandering middle bit. Readers who like the series from book one should be in for a treat.
Q] If you have any free time, how do you spend it? Can you recommend any books, games, shows, that have recently caught your interest?
MM: You’re right to ask it the way you did, haha. Not a ton of free time since I have two kids and hustle constantly atm. Fingers are crossed there’s more respite on the horizon, though.
If I had more free time, I’d play a ton of tabletop and board games and have a regular exercise schedule (yoga, martial arts, weightlifting). I’d also do a lot more hiking and paddleboarding. I truly enjoy nature, comedy, TV/movies. Video games are cool, but not my main thing. I love to dance, too.
The top three shows I strongly recommend: Dark, The Wire, Scavenger’s Reign.
Favorite games in recent memory: Ghost of Tsushima and Hogwarts Legacy.
I like the idea of aging heroes forced to save the world one more time. They’ve already done their time in the spotlight, but the world clearly refuses to stay saved for good. Slayers of Old offers a fun take on this trope; it’s cozy, character-driven, and reads well.
Jenny (a hunter once devoted to Artemis), Annette (a half-succubus grandma with sass and scars), and Temple Finn (a nearly century-old wizard bound to his half-sentient ancestral home) have settled into their golden years trying to run a bookstore in Salem. They want peace and to enjoy Temple’s excellent meals. Alas, eldritch horrors don’t have a shred of decency - they don’t care that the former Chosen Ones have arthritis and can barely remember to get dressed.
The house they live in is far more than a backdrop. Thanks to its magical bond with Temple, it creaks and groans with his aches, but it also bends reality. It rearranges its rooms on a whim, creates new ones when needed (say, for unexpected guests), and generally ignores the laws of physics. Between that and the sentient mice who assault neighborhood cats, the setting feels alive in the best way.
The magic here isn’t overly explained, which, honestly, I appreciated. It seeps and lingers and remains unpredictable. The banter between the trio is warm, sharp, and believable. Their friendship comes from decades of shared pain, triumph, and breakfast routines. They’ve all made their mistakes, and lived long enough to understand what matters now.
That said, the coziness comes at a small cost. You know going in that this isn’t the kind of story where the world will end in darkness. There’s comfort in that, sure-but it also meant the stakes never quite reached the heights I like. Evil won’t win, not really. The tone reassures you of that from the start.
And that’s okay. Sometimes I prefer the assurance that the found family will win, that the bookstore won’t burn, and that a haunted van with a ghost mom can be part of the solution. Slayers of Old delivers exactly what it sets out to: heart, humor, action, and magical mischief. Also, the ending isn’t exactly what some may expect, and it’s better for it.
I’d give it 4 stars. Cozy fantasy done right-with some battle scars, strong tea, physics-defying architecture, and maybe a cursed trinket or two.
Preorder Liminal Monster over HERE
Add Liminal Monster on Goodreads
Add Liminal Monster on Goodreads
Luke Tarzian has graced us with the cover for this newest story titled LIMINAL MONSTER. Firstly here's the blurb for it
Plus here's the snazzy cover for it which has been created by the author himself
For those reviewers who might be interested to review it, the author has set up an e-ARC request form over here.
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